Just Desserts
by chain blue lightning
Summary: The Xmen prepare a new booth for a charity carnival. Chaos breaks out and hilarity ensues. Read if you dare.
1. Introduction

Greetings, denizens of Earth! It is I, The Watcher, once again. I am here to regale you with tales of the Marvel Universe that will astound and bewilder your sensibilities! Once again, we shall peer into another corner of the X-Men universe where you will be amazed at the intrigue, the action, the danger…

Uh, well, no actually. If you heard the last one, you're not going to buy it this time. It's just that I've allowed all the mediocre and inconsequential stories to pile up, so, I have to get these things out of the way. They all can't be winners. But cut the Watcher some slack! I have to watch everything! Believe me, suffering through one of these turkeys is nothing compared to what I have to go through. Yes, I said it, this one's a turkey! I couldn't in all honesty defend it in any way. I could've made the effort to find something more palette able, but, I have other priorities.

Okay, I'll level with you. I was talking to Eternity the other day and he set me up with his sister Infinity. So long story short, we're going out some time soon. I can't say exactly when since time is pretty inconsequential to cosmic beings such as us you know (well, actually you don't). But I can't give up my social life just to entertain you!

Anyway, there are some good points to consider. It's dealing with those X-kids again. And…it's mercifully short, not like the last one (even I felt that one). The bad news is…well…you're just going to have to read it to find out. (Now you're interested, just how bad could this thing be…bad enough for you to be interested!) So enjoy masochists! Don't say I didn't warn you (even if I'm totally responsible for your distress!). Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date to wait for, and knowing Infinity, she'll take forever to get ready (I know, but I couldn't resist!). Enjoy! And sorry in advance!


	2. Chapter 1

It was an unusual day to be an X-Man. That is to say, it was an uneventful day: a lazy, summer weekend, so to speak with nothing to do but follow your own whimsy. Suffice it to say, it implied that it was a good day to be an X-man. The young mutants were loitering about the house without a care in the world. They had already finished with their morning regiment of training sessions with Logan, leaving everyone to their own devices. So they collectively shared in a favored activity they all enjoyed on rare days such as this on, doing absolutely nothing.

Everyone had strewn themselves about the rec-room as if someone had scattered them all with complete disregard. All of them were 'vegging out', watching hours of television since mid-morning. Ray and Marco were occupying opposite ends of one the sofas, draping themselves on each end. Bobby was lying upside down on the same couch, an awkward position to be in but he still felt comfortable. Kurt balanced himself effortlessly on the top end of the sofa, reclining lazily with his tail in the air. Sam was fine resting on the floor leaning back on the sofa. He unintentionally fell asleep and had his mouth wide open, yet no one seemed to notice or care. Madrox was happily sitting too close to the television, his eyes not missing a beat, or blinking frequently for that matter. The girls occupied the other couch, packed together like sardines in a can. Amora, Jubilee, Tabitha, Rahne and Kitty melded together sitting on the couch, not seeming to be the least bit uncomfortable despite their close proximity to each another. Rogue was the only one sitting by herself in the comfy chair. Although it was never addressed directly, no one dared to occupy the comfy chair. Rogue had well established it as her own personal space in the rec-room. Even if she wasn't in the rec-room, or in the house for that matter, no one dared to tempt fate. The consequences would be dire at best. Rogue was at this time engrossed in a poorly written romance novel. Although its pages revealed nothing but a substandard plot, transient characters and an unoriginal premise, she found the novel mildly entertaining. It was something to help pass the time at least. All of them were resting contentedly in their designated positions, thoroughly engrossed in their inactivity. It was going to be a perfectly good day to waste it seemed, that is, until Jean walked in.

"Family meeting in the dining room," she announced, then quickly exited the rec-room. She slowly sauntered back into the room, realizing that everyone was still lying around. While only slightly annoyed, she repeated herself once again.

"Family meeting in the dining room," she repeated, with more emphasis on the urgency of the matter.

Again, there was no response.

"Now," she added, scanning the room for signs of intelligent life, to no avail.

"Uh, guys? Heeellooo?"

Rather than following her usual tactic of yelling and threatening their lives, Jean had already thought of something that might bring her team-mates out of their self-induced stupor.

"Ice cream in the dining room, first come, first serve!"

Suddenly, the glazed expressions were replaced with unbridled enthusiasm. They all immediately bolted, racing to the dining room as fast as they could. Kurt got there first, of course, using his teleportation, only to find that there was no ice cream to be found. Rather than draw the obvious conclusion that he might have been deceived, Kurt began searching every crevice of the dining room in a vain attempt to find the elusive ice cream. Sam rocketed in next, sliding face first in the floor boards while attempting to slow down. The rest of the mob followed close behind, with Kitty running through the wall to avoid the mass of people blocking the doorway. The rest were trying to squeeze through the doorway at the same time and not succeeding. Then all of the sudden they all managed to stumble into the room, falling on top of one another in one big pile of humanity. The young mutants were not worse for wear as they were more annoyed with each other than physically hurt. They slowly made their way to their feet, regaining their equilibriums. Surveying the dining hall, they found no said confectionary but rather a frustrated Kurt, teleporting frantically from room to room and back again, looking for ice cream in the most unlikely of places. As well, they found Sam, still dazed with his face planted in the ground.

"Knock it off, Kurt!" ordered Jean, as she waved away the sulfurous wake of smoke from his constant teleporting, holding her nose at the same time. While Kurt stopped his frantic teleporting, he continued to scan the room intently, with a scowl of frustration across his face. Jean then turned her attention to Sam still lying face-first on the floor. She levitated him back onto his feet using her telekinetic abilities. She kept Sam level, until he regained his balance, allowing him to land on his feet. While he gained his bearings, Sam blushed with embarrassment, but he still had enough wherewithals to thank Jean for her assistance.

"Uh, thanks, uh, err, Jean," he stated shyly.

"You're welcome, Sam," Jean replied, flashing him a dazzling smile. He coyly averted his eyes and melded back into the group. While it was common knowledge that Sam was chronically shy, which was made much more evident when he tried speaking to girls, it was not well known was that Sam had a bit of a crush on Jean. That is not to say, that none of the other boys didn't feel the same way, as Jean was incredibly attractive and beautiful. But Sam, however, put Jean on a pedestal of sorts, as someone to adore and yet remain unattainable. Sam knew it was an unrequited fantasy, he recognized it as such because he was well aware of his own limitations. Still, a harmless fantasy here and there, along with heavy doses perspective and reality to keep him in tow was an acceptable practice. It wasn't like anyone would ever know, except when he perpetually blushed whenever Jean spoke to him directly. Of course, no one seemed to notice this at this time, since they were too busy obsessing about the missing ice cream, except a pair of jealous green eyes, gazing at the back of Sam's oblivious head in disapproval.

Rahne did notice Sam's blushing, she also noticed how it was always around Jean and this bothered her to no end. For unbeknownst to everyone, including Sam, she also had a bit of a crush of her own. But unlike Sam, she not only thought that her crush was attainable, to her, it was merely a question of 'when?' The only obstacles in her way, as she saw it was Sam's chronic shyness and Jean. While she found it endearing and cute, it was incredibly frustrating to her, as Sam seemed oblivious to her subtle hints and even her blatant ones. But what really set Rahne off was the fact that Jean could always get a rise out of Sam, even though it was never intentional. While she indeed liked Jean as a person and considered her a friend, the way Sam acted around her made Rahne jealous and somewhat resentful. Jean wasn't doing any of it on purpose, she knew that. But Rahne couldn't help her feelings, she felt like screaming her lungs out in disdain. But she held her tongue, muttering indecipherable grunts that were barely audible to anyone, nor were they meant to be. But still, as usual, no one noticed. Everyone was too preoccupied with the fact that there was no ice cream in the dining room and they wanted answers. They were too busy with their own mutterings of indignation and feelings of betrayal, the subtle noises of discontent began to emanate throughout the room in concourse. The rumblings were then shattered by the cry of a despondent Kurt, who was ready to echo the sentiments of the other students in an overly melodramatic fashion.

"Vere in vee verld is vee ice cream?!" he shouted in despair.

"Yeah!" shouted the rest of them, murmuring loudly soon after.

"All right everyone, just calm down!" ordered Jean, gesturing peaceably with her hands. "There is ice cream for everyone and you're all welcome to it..."

Jean was interrupted by a series of cheers but she then asked them to quiet down so that she could deliver the bad news.

"…after the family meeting."

There was a loud, despondent groan from the rest of the X-men. And while they all knew this family meeting was going to be long-winded and boring, they all figured that ice cream was worth the risk. They also knew that Jean would never let anyone skip out of a family meeting and live to tell about it. So they begrudgingly took their seats at the table and waited for Jean to inevitably bore them to tears.

"Before we start, we're going to have to wait a little bit."

Another disapproving groan was heard all-around.

"Just great!" grumbled Rogue, just loud enough for everyone to hear and agree with her.

"Uh, what are we waiting for?" asked Ray, addressing the obvious question.

"Not what, who," replied Jean. She was then taken aback by the blank expressions on their faces.

"Who isn't here?" Jean asked, thinking that the answer would be obvious.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. They all looked around and at each other and simply shrugged their shoulders with uncertainty.

"Scott!!" Jean shouted, exasperated.

Everyone suddenly let out a collective "Ohhhhhh!" when they realized Scott wasn't here yet.

"So, where is Scott?" Ray asked, once again demonstrating his ability to ask the obvious question.

"He should be arriving…right…about…now!"

Everyone immediately turned to the entranceway but they didn't see anyone enter.

"I mean he just pulled into the driveway," she added, sighing.

Again, a unanimous "ohhhhh" emanated from the students.

"Yes," Jean sighed.

While everyone waited in the dining room, Scott made his way to meeting. He was also pondering what the exact nature of this family meeting. Jean seemed pretty adamant that he be there but was very cryptic about it. He figured it must be important if she was so insistent, in other words, forceful. But she never hinted why this meeting was so important. Scott felt it couldn't have anything to do with the Brotherhood or the Acolytes or even Magneto, since the Professor would take a hand in such matters. It couldn't be about a new training schedule as that was definitely Logan's area. The only thing that Scott could come up with was that it had something to do with some sort of charity event. The students were always involved in raising money for local charities and good causes. The big drives happened around Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this was the summertime, so it had something to do with this time of the season. The charity casino night was done and over with so the only event that they hadn't done yet was…

"Oh no!" Scott thought, stopping dead in his tracks with a terrible epiphany. "Oh no, oh no, oh no! Not again!"

Just as Scott was about to turn around and make a run for it, he suddenly felt the presence of someone behind him. And knowing his consistently rotten luck, it could only be one person. He turned around nonchalantly and put on his best and most insincere smile.

"Oh, hi Jean," Scott said, feigning surprise.

"Hi Scott," she answered sardonically. "The meeting is that way."

"Oh yeah, uh, I was just…I mean… I was…on my way…"

"Scott, we share a psychic link, remember?"

"Stupid psychic link!" he thought to himself.

"Scott, I can still read your thoughts."

"Oh right," he replied sheepishly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"You were going to bail out on me weren't you?"

"Of course I was! I know what this is about and I can't believe you expect me to go through that again! Well Jean, I'm putting my foot down this time! I'm not going to do it!"

Jean was visibly upset.

"This is why I didn't tell you because I knew you were going to act like this! Well, Mr. Summers, if you are too selfish and immature to swallow your pride for a good cause, well, you're not the man I thought you were! So, go ahead! You don't have to do it! You can be a little baby if you want to! I'm fine with it!"

Jean then turned her back to him in disgust and crossed her arms sulking. Scott, however, was unmoved.

"Okay," he replied, and made his way past her to leave. Jean immediately grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back.

"You were actually going to do it, weren't you? You were going to abandon you girlfriend, who you supposedly love, in her hour of need?! Aren't you the least bit ashamed of yourself?!"

"Yes," Scott replied without emotion. "But I'll learn to live with that shame. But I think, I'll get over it someday, so, I'll be leaving now."

And once again Scott tried to make his way to the door only to have Jean throw herself in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck in desperation.

"You have to do it!" she cried desperately.

"Uh, no I don't!" Scott replied, self-assured in that fact.

"But you have to! No one else will do it either if don't show up! It's for charity!"

"I've done my time, my sentence is ended, so can find someone else!"

Scott still couldn't get past Jean to leave as she held him fast. Breaking her grip proved most difficult. He barely managed to break her hold around his neck, only to have Jean firmly grab him at his waist, pleading with him to stay. Scott still attempted to leave as she clung to him. He managed to drag her a few feet, pausing to try and shake her loose. She then clung tightly to his left leg with all her weight, making it even more difficult for Scott to move. Jean was still begging and repeating 'please' like it was a mantra. He kept trying to move towards the exit until finally his resolve and his left leg were too worn down to fight anymore. Scott caved in.

"All right! All right!" he groaned as if in tremendous pain. "I'll do it!"

Jean sprang up with joy and hugged Scott with glee, kissing him repeatedly.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Scott remained stoic in the face of Jean's gratitude. He was recalling how he felt the last time he volunteered.

"I may have said 'yes' but you're not exactly my favorite person right now!"

"And I understand that," Jean replied dismissively. "But I promise to make it up to you!"

"Great," he replied, unimpressed.

"Hey, I mean it! I 'will' make it up you! You won't regret it I promise!"

"Too late."

"I'm really going to make it worth your while if you know what I mean."

"You said that last time."

"And…?"

"I'm sorry Jean, but going shopping with you was not what I had in mind."

"I was buying you clothes."

"Well then, I stand corrected," Scott replied sarcastically.

Jean inched herself closer to Scott and gave him a long, soft kiss on his lips. She could feel him loosen up.

"There," she said playfully. "Better?"

Scott couldn't help but enjoy that but he still had his reservations even if he was slightly distracted.

"You know, someday, that isn't going to work!"

"If you think that felt good, just wait."

Jean then looked at Scott and projected her provocative thoughts into his mind. Scott was taken aback in a good way, by the intriguing images that crossed his mind.

"Okay, I'm not mad anymore," Scott admitted. "But I still hate this!"

"Duly noted," she replied, still enthusiastic. Jean ushered her apathetic boyfriend into the dining hall.

"And I hope that this time, you won't let things get out of hand!"

"Of course, babe, you know me."

"And that includes our fellow X-men."

"You have nothing to worry about."

"You said that last year too!"

"And I really do mean it this time! Besides, I know for a fact that it's not going to be like last time."

"You're not telling me something."

"What do you mean?"

"It's funny, I can actually feel you hiding something from me! Finally, this psychic link thing is working in my favour."

"It's true," she admitted ashamedly. "But I'll be announcing it to everyone right now! It's not as bad as you think!"

"Against my better judgment and not taking previous events in consideration, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Thank you for being so understanding."

"Any more surprises?"

"Well, there is ice cream."

"Make mine a double."

"Of course, dear."

And so, arm and arm, they entered the dining hall. They were amazed to find everyone still sitting down. They were still talking of course but they didn't notice that Scott and Jean had entered.

"Okay guys," Jean announced. "We can start!"

"Eets about time!" shouted a volatile Kurt, pacing frantically. "Bring on vee ice cream!"

"Like I said before, 'after' the family meeting," Jean replied sternly.

"Ve demand out ice cream now! Who's wiv me?"

Kurt looked around to find everyone staring at him impatiently.

"Just sit down, Kurt," ordered Jean.

But Kurt was still slow to get the point.

"Come on, guys! Say it wiv me, 'Ve vant ice cream! Ve vant ice cream!"

Kurt looked around to see that he only succeeded to annoy everyone with his ranting. They looked at him more crossly than ever. Dejected, Kurt stepped down, sulking as he took his seat.

"Alright then," said Jean, eager to get things underway. "Let's get this started. As you know, next week is 'Mutant Awareness Week'…"

Jean paused as the student began to talk amongst themselves seemly surprised that there was such a thing as 'Mutant Awareness Week'.

"Well, it is!" she continued. "As it happens, the charity carnival is also happening this week."

All eyes in the room were fixed on Scott. They all had evil smiles on their faces along with a few audible giggles, courtesy of the girls. Scott was less than amused.

"So this year, all of the money raised will go to help educate people about mutants and help mutants with special needs. I also have news regarding our activity booth for this year…"

"Dunk Tank!" they all shouted in unison, applauding and whistling and they looked at Scott. Scott was always the unfortunate occupant of the dunk on a yearly basis. As he was the oldest and everyone else declined to volunteer, and Jean desperately needed someone to do it, the task fell unto him, and he loathed every minute of it. While carnival patrons paid to dump him in a tank of freezing water, the other students would take 'potshots', sometimes running up the target and pushing it back, causing to fall into the tank, with everyone laughing at his expense. Last year, the Brotherhood had a field day with him, especially Lance, who made a point of buying as many tickets as possible, just for the pleasure of dunking Scott over and over again. He wasn't looking forward to being humiliated again, but he gave his word to Jean. Still, he had a feeling that Jean was holding back some important details about the carnival that she didn't want him to know about. He couldn't imagine how things could be worse than they already were. He could see the glee in everyone's eyes with him once again playing the fool. He tried deriving something positive out of this situation, but to no avail.

"Maybe," he thought. "Someone else might be joining me in my misery. 'Misery loves company' and I could sure use the company."

Jean turned briefly to look at Scott. He wasn't sure if she had read his thought just now, but she still looked apprehensive, her face seemed to betray what she was thinking, as well as what she was about to say.

"I know what a big hit the dunk tank has been for all this time. And Scott has been gracious enough to volunteer all these years."

Jean turned to Scott looking for sympathy and understanding. Scott looked at her without emotion, unimpressed by her accolades. Sheepishly, Jean turned back to the rest of the students and continued her speech.

"Well, um, anyway," she continued. "We've decided…"

Jean stopped as everyone looked at each other confused, since they weren't exactly sure who else was making the decisions.

"Okay, fine! 'I' decided…"

Everyone then nodded in agreement.

"Will you let me finish?!" uttered Jean, exasperated.

Everyone again nodded in agreement.

"Thank you oh so much," she grumbled sarcastically.

Jean gathered her composure and pushed on.

"As I was saying, we…I mean, 'I' have decided to take another direction. So this year, we're not going to do the dunk tank."

There was a universal groan of disappointment from everyone, except Scott of course. Initially, he was ecstatic when he heard, he was almost beaming. Then it suddenly dawned on him that something worse was on the horizon, after all, why would she give up on the success dunk tank unless she had something 'better' in mind, 'better' implying something even more humiliating. Scott looked at Jean and eyed her suspiciously. Jean could feel Scott's gaze on her as well as sensing the nature of his thoughts. She chose to ignore it as best she could, smiling weakly at everyone through her discomfort.

"I thought that uh, we should try something different for a change…"

As Jean stammered, she contacted Scott telepathically as she was speaking.

"Scott, please don't hate me!"

"What?" thought Scott, who was alarmed at tone of her telepathic message. "What are talking about? What are you up to Jean?"

"Just know that I love you very much…"

"What are you going to do Jean? It's worse than the dunk tank isn't it? Isn't it!?"

"…and I know how kind and gentle a spirit you have, with a most forgiving nature…"

"Aw man, it's worse than I thought! What have you suckered me into!?"

"…with the patience of a saint, and a heart that can persevere through the most ardent of sufferings…"

"'Ardent?!' Quit stalling Jean and spill it!"

"Uhmmm…"

"Jean?!"

"Uhh, remember, you promised!"

"I never promised anything!"

"Well, uh, you implied it, so there!!"

"What the..? I never…"

"You agreed to volunteer to help me! I take that as a promise, ipso facto!"

"You've got to be kidding me! If you think that for one minute…"

Scott's train of thought was suddenly derailed by a series of provocative images invading his psyche, courtesy of Jean.

"Hey, that's not fair!" he lamented, trying to stay focused and angry.

But Jean, who was still talking all this time her fellow X-men, continued to assault Scott with a barrage of sensual suggestions.

"Alright, alright, fine!! I'll go along with everything, whatever it is! But I know I'm going to regret this!"

"I love you, I love you, I love you" squealed Jean psychically.

"I still don't like you," Scott grumbling mentally.

Jean turned to see a disgruntled Scott. She flashed him an innocent smile but it didn't take. Jean felt guilty about her emotional blackmail, but she knew that Scott was the only one she could count on to follow through and make things work. She realized that everyone would only follow suit unless Scott was somehow humbled. What she had failed to realize was that she had been talking about literally nothing for the past ten minutes and that everyone had glazed expressions on their faces. Jean decided to wrap things up quickly.

"So then, any questions?" Jean asked, feigning interest and enthusiasm about what the other students had to say.

Everyone as a little befuddled and looked at each other confirming that sentiment. Rogue spoke up first.

"Uh Jean, what does all this have to do with the charity carnival?"

"Umm, what do you mean?" Jean replied, not being able to recall anything about what she had been talking about.

"Well, while ah do think that a women's professional soccer league is real possibility, I don't know what that has to do with anythin' we're supposed to be talkin' about."

"Yes, an vile I agree vid you vat putting ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies would make a delicious treat, I agree with Rogue vat it has nothing to do wid vee carnival."

"Oh well, uh, that's because…" Jean stammered, trying not to sound any more ludicrous than she already had. "I was just building up to the big announcement!"

While no one was convinced by her statement, Jean pushed on anyway.

"Okay, then, here it is. Instead of a dunk tank this year, I've decided to have a pie toss booth instead.

The young X-men suddenly became wrought with excitement upon hearing the news, chattering and giggling to themselves. Inevitably, all eyes turned to look at Scott who was hanging his head down in distress. Jean sensed a loud psychic groan from her languishing boyfriend. She felt it was time to make the second announcement.

"Wait, I have something else to add."

Everyone listened intently, except for Scott, who seemed almost comatose at this point.

"In previous years, we've always relied on person to be a good sport and sacrifice a little dignity for a good cause. Of course I'm talking about our 'fearless leader' Scott Summers, who always comes through for us. A real man's man. And this year, he's agreed to help us out once again. Let's give him a hand guys…"

The young mutants gave a huge round of applause for Scott, but he was still void of any energy or excitement. The applause quickly died down and the mutants started looking at him with pity.

"Poor Scott," whispered Bobby to Kurt. "I mean, it's funny and all. But why does he volunteer for this stuff if he hates it so much."

"He doesn't volunteer," replied Kurt. "He's drafted! You know, 'Wh-tche!'" Kurt gestured, as if cracking a whip.

Bobby nodded in understanding.

"There's no way a girl would get me in that kind of situation."

"You never had a girlfriend. And to add to vat, most guys don't have a girl like Jean! Vere's always a price dude, and Scott's paying vor it!"

"Right, he's been drafted!"

"Poor Scott," added Marco. "He just can't catch a break."

While both mutants whispered to each other, Jean was ready to drop the bombshell that was the second announcement.

"Wait, guys," she continued. 'There's more. In addition to having our fearless leader playing the good sport alone, I felt it was for a change…"

Suddenly, all of the mirth was whisked away and replaced with a tentative concern. Scott suddenly woke up from his stupor of self-pity and listen intently to the rest of Jean's announcement.

"Scott has always been real man, always volunteering to help out when needed. So I figured this year we would need a few more good men."

The X-girls applauded this idea and added some cheers along with some jeers at the expense of the boys. The boys, of course were less than enthusiastic. They were concerned about sharing the spotlight with Scott, along with his humiliating fate.

"Excuse me," shouted an indignant Ray, "Why is it just the guys and not the girls?"

The rest of guys grunted in agreement, demanding an answer.

"Well," replied Jean. "I knew that you that both the guys and girls would complain if there were more guys than girls and vice-versa. So, to be fair, I flipped a coin to determine if would be 'all guys' or 'all girls' that would be the targets."

"But that's not fair!" complained Ray.

The rest of the X-boys again grunted in agreement..

"It's not an ideal solution, but it made the decision a lot easier. Besides, Scott is already going to do it."

Just then, all the boys turned to look at Scott, who appeared as if he was enjoying their plight. They collectively agreed that they needed to get out of this somehow.

"I think we should put it to a vote," shouted Marco.

The rest of the boys shouted in agreement. The girls countered their protests with their own shouting, as they obviously preferred not to be human targets.

"No way! No how!" Bobby cried. "We want a vote!"

And with that, the chanting began for a vote. Frustrated, Jean sighed at the prospect of a vote. Each side had an equal number of votes, so it was going to end up being an exercise in futility.

"All right, fine, "she said. "All those who think the boys should be the targets, say 'Aye'."

All the girls, including Jean, raised their hands as expected. But was not expected and to everyone's shock, Scott also had his hand raised, grinning sadistically. A grin appeared on Jean's face as well.

"All opposed?" she asked dismissively, knowing the outcome.

"Nay! Nay!" the boys shouted in futility. The idea to have a vote backfired unexpectedly and they tried in vain to change the inevitable outcome. Jamie made a number of clones with her hands raised in an attempt to change the outcome, which of course failed.

"The 'ayes' have it!" Jean announced with a hint of glee.

As the girls celebrated their victory, the boys collectively sulked, giving Scott 'the evil eye' for betraying them. Scott, however, was unfazed by their disdain for him. He was enjoying the fact that this year he wasn't going to suffer alone. Jean was relieved that the vote actually provided an outcome. Once again, Scott had bailed her out of a bad situation. Jean entertained the thought that he was no longer upset with her and maybe things between them were now copasetic.

Jean ended the meeting and invited everyone to the kitchen to enjoy the ice cream that she prepared beforehand. Everyone once again rushed to the kitchen with both and Scott and Jean trailing behind. Scott didn't really look at Jean as he made his way out, causing Jean to pause and consider that she might be wrong about Scott's state of mind.

Jean found Scott sitting just outside the kitchen while everyone else crammed themselves within that small space, clamoring for the ice cream. Jean used her telekinesis to skillfully acquire a bowl of ice cream and a spoon, weaving through the mass of hungry mutants and placing it carefully in both her hands. She presented the bowl of ice cream to Scott.

"Your ice cream, sir," she announced jokingly.

Scott lit up at the prospect of ice cream and reached for the bowl.

"Compensation at last," he replied eagerly.

Jean was taken aback by his statement and jerked the bowl away from him.

"Hey!" Scott exclaimed, dismayed that his ice cream was taken away.

"What did you mean by that?" Jean asked, looking quite cross.

"What?" said Scott, who honestly didn't know what she was talking about.

"What did you mean when you said 'compensation at last'?"

"Well, uh, it means what it means."

"Which means?"

"That at least I'm getting something for my troubles, if that answers your question, even if it's just ice cream." Scott then reached to get the bowl of ice cream which Jean once again pulled away.

"I can't believe you would say something that to me! Is that what you think?"

"Take it easy, Jean," Scott replied, still focusing on the bowl of ice cream. "It's just I don't usually get rewarded for my efforts, that's all. I'm used to it. So whatever little compensation I get, I appreciate greatly. So if you don't mind…" As Scott once again attempted to get the bowl of ice cream, Jean kept pulling it away from him, much to his chagrin.

"I can't believe it! Do you think so little of me? You make it sound like I'm always taking advantage of you!"

Scott was about to answer her but then his common sense clicked in and stopped himself. Unfortunately, he still managed to incriminate himself by his half-utterance and Jean was absolutely livid. But rather than dump the bowl of ice cream on Scott's head, as was her first instinct, Jean had a sudden change of heart.

"Alright then," she said coolly.

Scott, who was already cringing in the corner, was surprised by Jean's reaction.

"Uh, what?" he said in disbelief.

"That's right, mister. I'm going to prove you wrong. I'm going to so make up for everything I've asked you do, you are going to be so satisfied with the outcome, you'll never doubt me again, ever."

Jean then playfully took and spoonful of the ice cream and fed it to Scott who greedily ate it up, though still bewildered.

"Wow!" he replied, his response garbled with his mouth full.

"You're welcome," Jean said triumphantly, handing the bowl of ice cream to Scott.

As Scott gorged himself, Jean sat next to him and watched him thoughtfully.

"Scott?"

"Hmm?" uttered Scott as he crammed spoonfuls of ice cream down his throat.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Mmmmhmm mmm mmmmh mmh," he replied incomprehensively.

"Swallow, then talk," Jean stated, annoyed at Scott's eating habits.

"Mmph, sorry," said Scott, gulping the rest of the ice cream down. "What I meant to say was 'no', not really."

"'Not really' meaning that you're still mad? Jean asked, analyzing and dissecting Scott's simple, straightforward answer.

"Well, I'm not looking forward to the carnival if that's what you want me to say."

"So you are still mad at me," said Jean, as she folded her arms and sulked.

"Come on, Jean," Scott replied, annoyed at her reaction. "Who wouldn't feel that way? I actually don't like being humiliated in public. I must be a terrible person! It has nothing to do with you, honest. That's how I feel that's all."

"But you still blame me, right?" Jean countered, convinced that Scott still harbored some resentment.

"Well Jean, I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for you. But I'm trying to look at the bright side. One, it's for a good cause, and two, I'm not alone this time in my humiliation. And you made that possible."

Jean stopped sulking and looked puzzled.

"I did?"

"Of course you did," replied Scott. "You saw that I was the only one being humiliated. And because you cared about me so much, you made sure that others would have to suffer along with me!"

Jean's demeanor changed with Scott's strange analysis.

"Yeah, I did do that!"

"You sure did. Feel better now?"

"Yeah," Jean said smiling coyly. "Scott you always know what to say to make me feel better."

"Glad you're okay."

"In fact, I just thought of another way to make things up to you."

"You have?" Scott asked skeptically, imagining himself shopping with Jean at the mall, sitting on the bench, holding her purse.

"Yes I have. You, my love, are going to have tomorrow off while the rest of us set up for the carnival."

"Well, that's nice."

"You don't sound all that thrilled, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Jean, it's just…"

"What?"

"I just thought, you know, you were going to do…something more?"

Jean smiled at Scott's revelation; she leaned over and gave Scott a soft but passionate kiss. Scott was pleasantly beside himself.

"How was that?" she asked with a wry smile.

"I enjoyed that very much thank you," Scott replied, still stupefied.

"That is only a sample of what you have coming, Mr. Summers. So my advice is to take tomorrow to relax and build up your strength because…"

Jean playfully grabbed Scott by his collar, their faces were now nose to nose, their foreheads touching. Scott's heart was racing.

"…you're going to need it," she whispered. And with that Jean let go of Scott, stood and up and sauntered off. She deliberately walked both slowly and sensually, as she could feel Scott's gaze upon her as she walked away. Jean relished every moment of it.

Scott, meanwhile, unaware of Jean's delight, was very worked up and disoriented. He thought that maybe this year; his humiliation wouldn't be so bad after all. A familiar sounding 'Bamfph' with an equally familiar smell of sulfur filled the hallway. Kurt emerged beside Scott, enjoying his ice cream.

"So," said Kurt. "You don't tink Jean is 'pulling your chain?"

"How long have you been spying on us?" Scott asked, his tone hinting his annoyance.

"Not too long," Kurt replied nonchalantly, continuing to eat his ice cream. "Just the tail-end of your conversation."

"I'm surprised Jean didn't kick your butt. She must of detected you."

"Vell, I tink Jean was too busy buttering you up to care. You still didn't answer my question."

"To be honest, I do. I think this time she's really going to make it up to me."

"And if you are wrong?"

"The way Jean sold it, I'm interested in what will happen if I'm right."

Kurt pondered on Scott's answer for a moment.

"Touché," he said finally. "You are very lucky man, Scott Summers. It is my hope to be that lucky someday."

"I don't see why you can't be, Kurt. You have Amara."

"Vell, yes."

"So what's the problem?"

"Vot do you mean? Ver is no problem. You think ver is a problem? Ver is no problem. You know vot I think? You have a problem! Vat's right! It is you who have vee problem, Scott! Just because you have a hot girlfriend who is villing to do all sort of things to you, you tink we are all jealous of you? Vell, you've got a real big head if vat's what you tink? In fact, I don't vant to talk to you anymore!"

And in a wisp, Kurt teleported away, leaving behind a very confused Scott. But soon his thoughts shifted to finish off the rest of his melted ice cream, and mused about the big compensation that was coming his way.


	3. Chapter 2

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, the day before the big charity carnival. Jean had meticulously planned everything to the letter. She rented a moving truck so the booth could be moved once the boys finished constructing it, as well as the pies. She just managed to keep costs under budget, so everything seemed to be running smoothly. But given the history of the X-men as a whole, it was not likely to remain that way. Jean, who was fully aware of this fact, was going to make certain that this was not the case.

While Scott was in the city enjoying his day off, Jean and the rest of the young mutants were in the backyard of the mansion getting everything prepared. The boys were begrudgingly building the stage for their execution so to speak, constructing the pie booth according to Jean's specifications. Predictably, they were not in the best of spirits. The girls on the other hand, were having a devil of a time making the pies. They gleefully laid out each pie plate shell, filling each with whipping cream, instead of whip cream, that Jean surmised would become runny under the hot sun. Jean wanted to make sure that each pie would have the desired effect that people would be expecting: messy, explosive, and utterly humiliating. She was concerned that the whipping cream might sour from exposure, so she recruited Bobby to act as their personal refrigeration unit. He didn't mind this, since it meant that he would be spending less time than the others acting as a human target, so it was better than nothing. Although he wasn't completely off the hook, Bobby saw it as a blessing; a small blessing, but still a blessing. The rest of boys, of course, were not so lucky. They were in it for the long haul, an entire Saturday afternoon rife with humiliation and embarrassment. In their estimation, it was a raw deal indeed.

Jean, however, was feeling pretty proud of herself. Everything was going according to schedule; everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing, even the boys were doing a bang-up job, despite their overt grumblings. It looked as if everything was going to work out, no mishaps, no mischief, and no nonsense whatsoever. It was almost too good to be true, and like most things, it was about to prove just that. It all started with a small indiscretion from of all people, Rogue.

"Hey Jean," she said, acting uncharacteristically coy. "Got a minute?"

"Sure, Rogue," Jean cheerfully replied. "What's up?"

"Well, it's about the pies."

Jean was puzzled. She didn't notice that anything was amiss. Naturally, Jean started to obsess about a potential crisis in her plans.

"Uh, is there something wrong?" she asked, hoping to find the answer.

"No, no," Rogue assured her. "It's just that, y'know, don't ya think we oughta…"

Rogue paused, looking uncharacteristically embarrassed about what she was about to ask.

"Ought to what, Rogue?" Jean asked, even more eager to find out.

"Well, shouldn't we…test them?" Rogue asked, almost wincing.

"You mean…you want to test the pies?"

"Y'know, just to see that we can throw 'em, is all. It'll look pretty bad if no can hit any of the targets."

While Jean looked at her skeptically, sensing that Rogue had other intentions regarding this request, but Jean also felt tempted to try out a pie or two, rationalizing that Rogue might have a point, albeit a small one.

"You know, Rogue. That's not a bad idea. I mean, for practical purposes of course.'

"Of course," Rogue replied, echoing the same false sentiment.

"Are you as full of it as I am?" Jean asked.

"Yeah, I just wanna mess someone up!" Rogue laughed.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt if we indulged a little bit," said Jean. "The question is…who do we test it on?"

"That is a quandary," Rogue joked. "So many worthy candidates."

Suddenly, both Jean and Rogue had a joint epiphany, mirroring the same sardonic smile and a devilish twinkle in their eyes.

"Oh, Sam?" Jean called, with a playful tone.

Sam jumped up from moving some particle board, and stood at attention after hearing Jean's voice.

"Uh, yes Jean?" he asked almost excitedly.

"Could you come here for a moment please?"

"Sure, Jean."

Sam walked briskly towards both Jean and Rogue, ready to do whatever he could do to help. Rahne also noticed his enthusiasm upon hearing Jean's voice, and it made her seethe. While she did her best to repress it, everyone else noticed Rahne's change of mood, but they didn't know exactly why. They just looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and went back to work.

"We're so bad," Rogue whispered to Jean, still smiling.

"Yes, yes we are," Jean replied, trying to contain her laughter. "Still want to do it?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Me too."

Both girls did their best to keep a straight face as Sam approached. They both had a hard time keeping their composure, as they were wrought with anticipation regarding what they were about to do to poor Sam.

"What is it Jean?" Sam asked enthusiastically.

"Like a lamb to the slaughter," Rogue whispered.

"Shhh!" Jean said, trying not to burst out laughing. "Well, Sam. I need you to do me a little favour."

"Sure Jean," Sam answered readily. "What do ya need?"

"Well, I need you to stand right over here, close your eyes and count to ten."

"Uh, sure Jean," Sam replied, confused by her strange request. "But why?"

"Oh, you know," Jean replied, batting her eyes and turning on the charm. "But I need you to do it. Can you, pretty please?"

"Sure Jean," Sam replied excitedly, falling hopelessly under Jean's spell. "No problem, no problem at all."

"Yer evil, Jean" Rogue whispered, grinning. "Ah'm impressed. Where can ah learn to do that?"

"Never mind that now, grab the pies!"

"Oh, right!"

Sam was already half-way finished counting to ten like a well-trained puppy, with his eyes closed shut, oblivious to what was about to happen, almost making it too easy.

"Nine…Ten! Okay, wha…"

Sam was stopped in mid-sentence by a pie hitting him square in his face, courtesy of Rogue. It was a direct hit, his face completely covered in whipping cream and pie shell. The force almost knocked him over. Disoriented, he tried to regain his bearings. Just then, Jean threw a pie of her own, also a direct hit. The second creamy missile knocked Sam completely off-balance. Sam was prone, a complete mess, and completely befuddled. Everyone burst out laughing at the sight, except for Rahne, who didn't like what happened one bit. Everyone else, however, enjoyed the pieing immensely. Jean and Rogue, revealing in their handiwork, were laughing hysterically. Sam was busy wiping the cream from his eyes, only now realizing that he had fallen prey to a very messy practical joke. Jean regained her composure quickly and helped Sam up.

"I'm sorry Sam," Jean said, still containing her laughter. "We just couldn't help ourselves. You're not mad, are you? It was just a tiny, little joke. You're man enough to take a little joke, aren't you?" Jean once again, laid it on thick with her charms.

"Well…uh…," Sam replied, who was still a little disoriented, wiping cream off himself. "Ah guess so…"

"Oh Sam, I knew you'd be a good sport! You always are! It's what I like about you the most!"

"Uh, you mean, really?!" said Sam his voice cracking. "Ah mean, really? You like me? Ah mean, you like that about me?"

"Yes Sam, I really do."

Jean did her best to put on the charm and Sam, oddly enough, fell for it all, hook, line and sinker.

"Oh yeah, no big deal an' all," he said, acting nonchalant despite being a complete mess. "Just a little joke."

"Wow, you're such a great guy, Sam. Why don't go clean yourself up? Then you can come back and help out, alright?"

"Oh yeah, okay, thanks Jean."

"No Sam, thank you."

And with that, Sam went off to go get himself cleaned off, acting almost jovial, despite the fact that he had just been humiliated in front of everyone.

"Jean," Rogue said, stupefied at what she had just witnessed. "You gotta teach me that!"

"All in good time, young grasshopper. All in good time."

And while Jean imparted to Rogue her secrets on how to make boys do really stupid things, Rahne was livid about what had just happened. She chased after Sam who was making his way to the mansion to get himself cleaned up. She darted right in front of him, taking Sam completely by surprise by blocking him.

"Oh, hi Rahne," he said, bewildered. "What's up?"

"I canno believe ye let that happen to ye," she replied angrily. "Those two made a fool of ye, and yer too thick in the head to realize it."

"It's alright Rahne," Sam said, a little surprised that she was so upset. "It was just a joke."

"No it's not alright!" she snapped. "Where is ye pride? Them two go outta their way to make a joke out of ya! The least ye can do is get a little angry!"

"Jean meant it to be a harmless joke, Rahne, so its cool."

"Why do ye allow yerself to be led around by the nose like that?! She jus' takes advantage of ye, and ye let her get away with it! I'm a getting' sick and tired of watchin' ye do that to yerself!"

Rahne suddenly slapped Sam in the head.

"Smarten up!"

Rahne angrily stomped away rubbing the whipping cream she accidentally got on her hand on her pant leg, leaving Sam scratching his cream-matted head, completely confused about what just happened.

Meanwhile, the rest of the kids carried on, preparing for the carnival unevaded. It looked as if everything was going to continue on, unevaded. However, the incident seemed to spark a bit of mischief within Kitty, who wanted desperately to pie someone. She couldn't stop talking about it. She was unable to sit still.

"Amara, I so really want to do this!" she cried excitedly.

"Come on Kitty," Amara replied dismissively. "We can't waste any more pies. Jean said so."

"But they got to do it, right? It's not fair!"

"Yeah, but Jean's the boss and doesn't answer to anybody. If you go around throwing pies around, you'll get in trouble for sure."

"Don't be such a spoil sport! You know you wanna do it."

Amara cracked a smile, revealing that she too was tempted to throw a pie or two.

"Yeah, but I don't want have Jean giving me a lecture, so you're on your own."

"Fine then, I'm going to have some fun!"

"Uh, Kitty?"

"Yeah?"

"Who are you going to pie?"

Kitty gave Amara a furtive glance as she gave her a wicked smile.

"Oh, I know exactly who I'm gonna get!"

Kitty turned to look at a certain blue mutant who was too busy complaining to Ray about the size of holes for the pie booth, saying that they were too small to get his head through. Everyone knew Kurt was trying to find any excuse not be a target. Ray just stood there rolling his eyes. Kitty sauntered across the field, trying not to attract Kurt's attention, balancing the pie in her hand, careful not to drop it. No one was paying any attention to Kitty as she was just meters away from reaching her target, when Ray suddenly looked up at her, seeing the pie in her hand.

"Uh Kitty?" he said. "What're you doing?"

Kurt casually turned to see Kitty, making eye contact with her. Looking straight into her gleaming blue eyes, he knew exactly what she was up to. His eyes widened at the realization. Kitty, who also realized that Kurt knew that she was going to pie him made a run at him with the pie. It was a futile attempt, however, as Kurt teleported out the way in an instant. Even more unfortunate for Kitty, she tripped, causing the pie to fly up in the air. Just as Kitty was falling face first to the ground, the pie that she was holding, managed to land right on top of her head. The cream splattered the entire top of her head. Kitty screamed in frustration, fully realizing what had just happened.

"Augh!" she grunted. "It's in my hair!!"

Everyone proceeded to laugh at Kitty as she ranted and raved, trying to get as much of the cream and pie shell out of her hair. Kurt was laughing the hardest, as he had only teleported a few feet away. He was on the ground, reveling in Kitty's misfortune. When she heard Kurt's laughter, she immediately snapped out of her ranting and eyed him angrily. She rushed over to one of pie tables and grabbed a pie and marched fervently towards Kurt. Kurt momentarily looked up and saw Kitty coming for him. He teleported out of the way, then reappeared a few feet from where he was. He tried reasoning with Kitty, who was very determined at this point to pie him.

"Now take it easy, Kitty," he said, trying to calm her down, but kept laughing.

"Come back here, you coward!" she cried.

As Kitty lunged at him again, in a vain attempt to pie Kurt, but once again, he effortlessly teleported out the way, remained within Kitty's field of view.

"Hey, you tried to pie me first!"

"I was just getting even with you for that prank you pulled on me last year!"

"You're still mad about vat ? Sheesh!"

"Stand still, and we'll call it even!"

"No vay!"

A panicked Kurt kept teleporting each time Kitty attempted to hit him with the pie, frustrating her at every turn. Suddenly, he was grabbed by his scruff by Rogue.

"What did ya do, Kurt?" she asked accusingly.

"Me?" Kurt said exasperated. "Vis is all Kitty's doing! She tried throwing a pie at me, and ended up getting herself!"

"Kitty, is this true?"

"Like, yeah, but I'm getting even with him for last year!"

"Yer still mad about that?" Rogue asked. Realizing that she was about to go off topic, Rogue shifted her focus on the matter at hand and continued.

"Uh, never mind 'bout that. Kitty, cut it out with the pie!"

"Not this time, Rogue. Hold him still for just a little longer."

Despite Rogue's warnings, Kitty was determined to get Kurt. Rather than smash the pie in his face, she attempt to lob it at him while his sister held him fast. This was not the best decision, as Kurt managed to teleport away once again, evading the pie. Rogue, however, was not so lucky, as the pie exploded right in her face, covering it completely.

Everyone was silent as opposed to laughing, because it was both unwise and unhealthy to laugh at Rogue. They were more in shock, uncertain as to how to react. Kitty was terrified and had lost all colour from her face as she was completely paralyzed with fright. Rogue just stood there for the longest time, not even gesturing to remove the pie cream from her eyes. Within moments, she finally wiped the pie off her face, revealing a pair of vengeful green eyes. She was looking in Kitty's direction, which made Kitty squeal in terror. Rogue marched towards one of the pie tables nearby; her eyes locked on Kitty and made her way methodically towards Kitty, betraying no emotion. Kurt materialized right behind Rogue as she walked, gleefully taunting Kitty.

"Oh boy, Kitty," Kurt announced evilly. "Now you are going to get it!"

"Oh Rogue, like, I'm so sorry," uttered Kitty, shrinking away from Rogue as she approached. "I didn't mean it!"

Kurt continued to jeer Kitty as Rogue came within range to smear her with the pie. While it would be easy to phase herself to avoid getting pasted once again, she knew that Rogue would never let her get away. She closed her eyes awaiting her fate.

"Come on, sis," Kurt shouted. "Give her vhat's coming to her!"

Just then, Rogue paused, looking at Kurt with the corner of her eye. She then proceeded to lift the pie and throw it over her shoulder, right into Kurt's face. Rogue's aim was picture perfect, as Kurt's face was completely covered with cream and pie shell. He appeared completely in shock at what just happened. Kitty's expression changed from fear to joy when she saw Kurt. She almost forgot that she was also a mess, but it didn't matter. She let out a hearty laugh. Seeing Kurt's expression, everyone else laughed too as he was absolutely beside himself. Rogue, however, wasn't laughing and turned to face her brother.

"That's what ya get fer causin' trouble!" Rogue cried, pointing her finger at him. She then turned to Kitty to give her an earful. "Now its yer turn!"

Kitty face once again looked fearful as Rogue went to grab another pie. Kitty started to run away. Rogue tried throwing the pie at her, but missed, hitting Ray on the side of his face. Ray, unimpressed by what just happened, decided to return the favor, grabbing the closest pie he could find and throwing it at Rogue. Soon, everyone was starting to throw pies at one another, making a big mess of the yard and each other.

Jean saw what was happening around her and she was mortified. She was about to explode.

"Stooop!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Everyone suddenly stood motionless, their eyes as wide as dinner plates. Jean looked at them angrily, itching to give each of them an earful.

"Are all you crazy?!" she shouted. "We've been working all morning making these pies and you've destroyed half our work with this stupid pie fight! You're all going to clean up this mess immediately, and you better hope with have enough supplies to make up for what was lost! Do you understand?! I will not put up with any more of your nonsense! I've worked too hard to have it all get screwed up because you're too immature to control yourselves! And furthermore…"

Just as Jean was in mid-sentence, a pie flew through the air and exploded in Jean's face. Everyone was socked at first, trying to suppress their instinct to laugh, fearing that Jean would kill anyone who did. They watched as she stood motionless for several seconds, watching the pie plate slide off her face, revealing a mask of cream and crust. Jean slowly wiped the pie from her eyes and face, shaking the excess from her fingers. Although it looked like Jean was seething, unexpectedly, she started to laugh. Everyone was shocked by this, as they didn't expect this reaction from Jean. She started to laugh even harder, to the point of nearly keeling over. Everyone remained tentative, believing that Jean had finally snapped and this was a prelude to a massacre, their massacre.

"Good one!" Jean said, finally. "You guys got me!"

Everyone grinned nervously, as they were perplexed.

"I mean the timing was just excellent! I mean, it was perfect! Come on, guys, it was funny! Laugh it up! "

Jean seemed genuinely amused by her pie in the face so everyone began to relax and gradually started to laugh. The volume of the laughter increased and broke into applause.

"See," Jean continued. "That wasn't so hard. But I have to know, who threw that pie?"

Everyone turned to look at Rogue, who was doing her best to act non-chalant by not making eye contact with Jean. Jean, however, tipped off by the fact that everyone was staring at Rogue, made her way towards her.

"That was classic, Rogue. Real comic timing there."

Jean put her hand on Rogue's shoulder and smiled.

"But one thing though…"

"Uhm, what?" Rogue asked, perplexed.

"I wouldn't mind so much if you only got it on my face but…"

Suddenly, Jean grabbed Rogue by her collar with both hands and her smile vanished, replacing it with a scowl of rage.

"You…got…it …in…my…hair!!"

Just then, six pies levitated from the tables and with lightning speed and pinpoint accuracy, they hit Rogue's head from all directions. Reeling from the impact, Rogue lost her balance and fell right on her posterior. Once again, everyone was terrified, as they saw more pies levitating from the table, knowing that they were next. Jean then turned to face her teammates with a sadistic smile on her face.

"Now it's your turn," she announced with conviction.

Before Jean had a chance to unleash her final revenge, Rogue managed to catch her off guard, assaulting her with a pair of cream pies, crashing them on the sides of her head like a symbol. Jean cried in anger and the pies she was lifting telekinetically fell back on the table. Rather than resort to throwing pies telekinetically, Jean decided it would be more satisfying to do it the old fashion way. Her and Rogue proceeded to throw pies as at each other from wherever they could grab them. And so the pie fight continued, everyone started to pelt each other with pies, continuing the may lay as before.

It was by coincidence that Scott returned to the mansion from his day off. Scott came back early because he was a little bored and curiosity compelled to check-in and see how everything was going. Scott thought he was a little bit foolish to look in at what was to be his day of humiliation, but he had nothing else to do. Scott was surprised to hear everyone screaming and shouting from the back yard, as if everyone was having a wild party of some kind. Scott finally turned the corner to see the chaos that was occurring in the backyard. Everything was in complete disarray; the lawn was littered with pie plates and their contents. Everyone else wasn't much better, they looked like snowmen come to life. Scott's first instinct was to laugh out loud at his teammates humiliating themselves. But then he realized that they would surely gang-up on him. So Scott, prudently decided to bugger off as fast as he could. Unfortunately, his psychic link gave him away once again, as Jean suddenly stopped attacking Rogue and spotted him trying to escape detection. Jean was not about to let Scott get away, as she was a mess and felt her boyfriend needed to experience the same thing.

"Oh Scoooott!" Jean shouted, loud enough for everyone to stop what they were doing and look towards him.

Scott shuddered and stood there motionless, hoping he was only hearing things, but knowing it not to be true. After once again cursing his psychic link, he slowly turned around to face Jean and everyone else, all them with furtive smiles and mischievous eyes. Scott did not like the looks of this.

"Hey Jean," he replied, waving to her nervously.

"Where ya goin'?" she asked in playful tone.

"Uh, well," Scott stammered "You see, I was just, stopping by to see how things were going, and uh, now that I see how, uhm, busy you all are, I'll be heading out now…"

"But Scott," Jean said, interrupting Scott. "You're going to miss out on all the fun we've been having."

Suddenly, Kurt teleported behind Scott hold pies in both hands. Scott turned around and backed away.

"Vat's right Scott," Kurt added, moving towards him. "You vill miss all vee fun."

Kitty then materialized beside Kurt from the ground hold a pair of pies as well.

"Like yeah, Scott," she said. "It wouldn't be a party without you."

"You don't want to be wet blanket, do ya Scott?" Rogue asked rhetorically, cornering off any chance of Scott escaping.

As Scott backed away from them, he realized too late that his teammates had already surrounded him and there was nowhere for him to run. Although he knew better, he made one last ditch attempt to talk his way out of his situation.

"Hey guys," he said. "You don't really want to do this, right?"

"Uh, yes we do, Scott," Kitty replied.

"Can't think of anythin' else I'd want to do right now," added Rogue.

"Guys! C'mon, this isn't fair!" Scott retorted.

"Scott, dude," said Kurt. "Ve are all covered in pies, and you, fearless leader, are not. So vhat do you think vee fair ving is, eh?"

As everyone enclosed on him, Scott made a last appeal to his girlfriend.

"Jean?!"

"I'm sorry Scott," Jean replied unsympathetically. "But I wouldn't feel right if I deprived you of what we've all experienced."

"Wait a minute! If you throw all those pies at me, you won't have enough pies for the carnival tomorrow! All your work will be for nothing!"

Jean, unfazed by Scott's appeal for reason, decided to take a quick poll.

"All in favor of ditching the carnival and nailing Scott with pies say 'aye'."

"Aye!" everyone shouted unanimously.

"All opposed?"

"Nay," Scott said weakly, knowing how in vain his plea was.

"The 'ayes' have it!" Jean announced with hint of excitement.

And with that, the X-men proceeded to bury their leader in a barrage of pies. One after another, Scott's fellow X-men hit him with pie after pie. After the supply was exhausted, Jean added the final insult by planting the final pie right in Scott's face, gleefully rubbing it contents all over his already encrusted visage. The X-men all took a step back to admire their handiwork and shared a big, hearty laugh at the expense of their leader. Scott was beside himself, instinctively grabbing at his hair, which was covered with pie, and his cream covered face showed an expression of disappointment.

"Aww, it's in my hair!" he lamented.

While, everyone continued to laugh at Scott, they didn't realize that Rahne was actually the one who smuggled the last pie. She wanted to save it for the one X-man, who she felt, above all else, really deserved it. But rather than throw it herself, she decided to coax Sam into doing the deed for her, attempting to incite a proper desire for revenge in him after being embarrassed by Jean.

"Here!" she said gruffly placing the pie in Sam's hand

"What's this for?" he asked, unsure of Rahne's intentions.

"What do ye think? This is fer ye to throw at Jean."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Are ye daft? Because she embarrassed ye in fronta everyone! Now's ye chance to get even!"

"But I'm not really…"

"Throw the bleedin' pie!" Rahne shouted in frustration.

Sam, shaken by Rahne's outburst, threw the pie out of instinct. Unfortunately, he wasn't looking at anyone in particular when he did. Even worse, the pie hit the wrong person, the worst person Sam could hit, Logan.

"Oh no!" shrieked Sam, mortified at what he had just done.

All the X-men were petrified, as they could hear Logan growling, becoming more audible in his aggression. They knew that this was not going to end well.


	4. Chapter 3

What happened afterwards, did not come as any surprise to any of the X-men. Under Logan's supervisions they were all assigned the task of cleaning up the entire premises before they could clean themselves up. The smell of sour milk began to permeate throughout the air which made their tasks that much more unpleasant. It appeared that Logan was there to make sure that the clean-up would indeed be without any hint of fun or pleasure. Everyone was being punished; even Scott who was only a victim of circumstance was forced to assist, with his entire body still caked over with dried-up cream and pie crust. In what would be an otherwise comical scene, Scott's anger was apparent in the way gathered pie plates from the grounds and into the garbage bags. Jean was well aware of Scott's mood and it was clear that he was ignoring her. She felt guilty about how everything turned out, which made her next task even more inappropriate and ill-advised. With a cleansing sigh, she gathered enough courage to saunter up to her boyfriend and ask the unthinkable.

"Uh, hi," Jean announced meekly.

:"Hi," Scott replied unemotionally, not raising his head up to look at Jean.

"How are you feeling?" Jean asked, knowing all too well the answer.

"Fine," Scott answered, still pre-occupied with his task.

"Good," Jean said, nodding optimistically, but recognizing that Scott was being curt with her in the hopes that she would leave him alone. A pause lasting a few heartbeats passed between them before she spoke again.

"Look, Scott," she said regretfully. "I'm really sorry about what happened and that you got in trouble because of it. Well, um, because of me."

"That's real big of you," Scott replied sarcastically, as he finally paused and looked directly at her. "You made a fool of me, humiliated me and got me grounded for week and extra training sessions with Logan! But its real burden off my mind that you're sorry."

In any other situation, Jean would throttle Scott for speaking to her in that way. But she already felt bad enough and he was right about everything, so she let it slide. Unfortunately, she feared everything was going to be made worse by what she was about to announce to him.

"Scott," she began rather tentatively. "I talked to Logan and explained that you had nothing to do with the pie fight and you were an innocent by-stander. I asked him if he would lift his punishment of you, including the extra training sessions."

Scott seemed to soften with Jean's revelation. "And?"

"Well, he was pretty resistant at first," Jean replied, wringing her hands nervously. "But I managed to get him to do it…"

"Are you kidding?" he replied excitedly, cutting Jean off in mid-sentence. "Ah Jean, I love you!" Scott then proceeded to hug her, forgetting that he was still covered in pies, making Jean even more of a mess that she already was. Realizing what he had done, he backed away.

"Oh Jean, sorry," Scott said embarrassingly. "Thank you Jean! Thank you! You are the best girlfriend ever!"

Jean who was overwhelmed by the unexpected elation from her boyfriend, tried to finish her statement before Scott got even more excited.

"Thank you, Scott but…"

"Isn't she great?" Scott shouted to the other students. "Isn't she the best girlfriend ever?!"

"Please Scott," Jean pleaded, whose task was becoming more difficult by the second. "Let me finish what I have to say."

"Alright, beautiful," Scott said beaming. "I'm all ears!"

"Okay," she replied, preparing herself the best way to get the words out. "Like I said before, Logan lifted your punishment but he had only one condition…."

Scott's high spirits were suddenly deflated with Jean's ominous announcement. Whatever that one condition was, it wasn't going to be good.

"What's the condition?" he asked, looking at Jean accusingly as if she had a lot to do with what the condition was going to be.

"Well," Jean answered, growing more apprehensive. "I explained that I needed your help with the carnival and that everyone would need to be present so I got Logan to delay until after the carnival to begin the punishment…"

"Okay," Scott stated, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"So then I explained that we didn't have a booth ready yet for the carnival and we only enough time and money to do one thing."

Scott did not say anything because he already knew what was about to happen. Jean saw the expression on Scott's face, she knew it too, but proceeded to explain it anyway in the hopes to assuage the negative emotions that were sprouting.

"So then I explained that I needed your help in order to pull this booth off I would need your co-operation so after that Logan said that it was alright as long as you participated in this booth."

"Oh no," Scott uttered, sinking to the ground.

"He said it was either that or the punishment," she said. She felt real guilty about what she conspired to do, but she was desperate.

Scott glimpsed Logan looking at him from the corner of his eye, and while it often had a stoic growl, he could see a partial smirk on his face. It was apparent that he was listening in to the whole thing, and with his superior hearing, it was impossible not to eavesdrop. Logan was going to be able to punish him one way or the other. It was simply a matter of what would be worse: over the long stretch of a week or one incredibly brutal day at the carnival. Although he tried to reason otherwise, Scott knew what the answer was.


	5. Chapter 4

"Ker-splash!"

That was the sound of a helpless Scott Summers plunging into the incredibly chilly water of an all-too familiar dunk-tank. As a precaution, he always sported a pair of ruby-quartz goggles that fit uncomfortably snug around his face and head to avoid any unwanted accidents. But truthfully, accidentally blasting the dunk tank into a million pieces would not make him feel remorse.

"Ha! Ha!" laughed Lance Alvers wickedly, who was better known as Avalanche. "Take that Summers!"

It was apparent that Lance and the rest of the brotherhood were taking much sardonic pleasure in continually humiliating Scott while he was in a precarious position. They had practically cornered off the dunk-tank for their own personal use. Uncharacteristically, they actually paid for the time, perhaps in the belief that any chance to openly humiliate the leader of the X-Men without repercussions was worth a small price. And from what it seemed, they were getting their money's worth. One after another, they took turns dropping Scott into the water with each pitch. Scott's fellow X-Men looked on as the massacre unfolded, but rather than sympathize, they too rollicked in Scott's continual drenching at the hands of the Brotherhood.

After experiencing a number of unwanted visits to the bottom of the dunk-tank, Scott finally signaled a "time-out" underwater to Jean, who felt guilt swelling within chest as she watched each dunking. She grabbed the megaphone to announce that the booth would be temporarily closing.

"Excuse me everyone! The booth will be shutting down for now but will re-open in the next ten minutes! So don't too far away!"

Although they had not yet had their fill of torturing Scott Summers, the Brotherhood were much too impatient to wait for anything and proceeded to move en-masse to explore the other carnival attractions. Nonetheless, they were pleased with themselves and their handiwork.

"Later Summers!" chided Lance, with a triumphant smirk on his face. "Hope you enjoyed your swimming lesson!"

The rest of the Brotherhood echoed Lance's sentiments with their laughter and taunting of Scott as he squirmed his way out the dunk tank to sit down and dry off. Although he was definitely relieved that the constant dunking had stopped for the moment, Scott felt completely dejected, not feeling any better than a "drowned rat", without his pride hurt and no remaining dignity. And his humiliation was going to continue in the next ten minutes, which made him briefly ponder whether this brief respite was a godsend or just an extension of his torture.

Jean looked upon her boyfriend sympathetically, empathically sensing his distraught feelings and desperately wanting to comfort him. But Jean also sensed Scott's resentment towards her as he had yet to say a word to her all day. While it was clear that she was the last person he wanted to speak to at the moment, Jean was compelled by the need to say something.

"Uhmm, Scott?"

Scott briefly looked at her with a grim, emotionless expression as he toweled off the excess water from his hair. He then turned away to stare at nothing in particular. Although he remained silent, his brief stare spoke volumes, even the opaque lenses of ruby-quartz goggles. Jean was apprehensive, be she continued her attempt at striking up a conversation.

"Uh, hi!" she announced, putting on her warmest, most inviting smile. It was a small attempt to alleviate the apparent tension between them, which she hoped would melt away Scott's hardened expression.

Unfortunately for Jean, he turned to face away from her as if he was completely disinterested in anything she had to say. It was clear that Scott was not going to make this easy for her. In the past, his easy-going nature always made it all a simple matter of forgive and forget. But now, it seemed that Scott was sick and tired of being the "Mr. Nice Guy", always left holding the bag. He planned to sulk for a long time about this, long enough to make Jean's guilt turn her inside out.

Jean was taken aback from what she was sensing from Scott, and his feelings of resentment towards her jabbed at her conscience like a pin prick. However, she was not going to give up trying to repair this current rift between them.

"Please Scott," Jean pleaded. "I'm really sorry, about everything! I'm sorry how things turned out and I feel horrible! You have every right to be mad at me and I understand you giving me "the silent treatment". But I was hoping that maybe you could find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Scott was apparently unmoved as he dropped his towel over his head, perhaps to avoid looking or listening to Jean.

"Come on Scott," she continued to plead. "Don't be that way."

Scott remained stoic in his resolve, refusing to even look up and meet her eye to eye.

"Okay, fine!" Jean snapped in frustration. "Be that way!"

As she was about to turn away from Scott in her usual manner of self-assured indignity, Jean suddenly broke down, once again overwhelmed by her feelings of remorse. With a heavy, defeated sigh Jean decided that it was necessary for her to take personal responsibility and resign herself to eating humble pie.

"No," Jean whispered to herself with a heavy breath. "This is all my fault. You have every right to be angry with me. Even though you don't want to talk to me, I'm going to do whatever it takes to make things right between us."

Suddenly Scott spoke up, with his back still turned away from Jean:

"I don't believe you."

Jean was stunned. "What do you mean 'You don't believe me'?"

Scott replied, staring at the ground under his feet. "I don't think you're sorry at all," he replied almost nonchalantly.

"How can say that?" Jean asked incredulously.

"Jean," Scott replied with frankness. "You're only apologizing because you feel guilty about once again roping me into sitting in this dunk tank. Every year you're sorry about it and you promise to make it up to me. Then every year you once again guilt me into doing it only to tell me "sorry". If you were really sorry about it, if you really felt badly about putting me though all this, I wouldn't keep having to do things like this against my will now would I? Well then, that's fine with me Jean. I accept this as just another compromise that I have to make for the sake of our relationship. If I have to compromise my pride and dignity to make you happy, I accept it. Now, if you'll excuse me, my audience awaits…"

Jean was in total shock at what Scott had just said. He did not to notice her wide-eyed expression as climbed up the step ladder to enter the dunk tank. Unfortunately for Scott, Jean was not about to let his statement be the last word about this issue. She went right up to the cage door to make her case.

"What makes you think that you're the only one makes compromises for this relationship?" she asked angrily. "I've made plenty of compromises…"

Scott paused midway upon the step ladder. He stared at Jean directly and cut her off in mid-sentence:

"Name 'one'."

Just as Jean was about to present her counter-argument with a list of the many compromises she had made in their relationship, it suddenly occurred to her that she could not think of any off the top of head. There wasn't a single instance that seemed to stand out where she had inconvenienced herself for Scott's wants and desires, let alone met with any formal demands on his part. Scott was always so accommodating, with every one of her requests. It always made her feel so special. But perhaps she had allowed to be spoiled by this fact that she failed to recognize just how one-sided their relationship had become. Still, Jean could not accept that things between her and Scott were completely one-sided. But what she could not dismiss the fact that more often than not, Scott was always resigning his own goals and desires to fulfill her own..

"How could that be?" Jean pondered. She would never actively take advantage of Scott, especially if she knew it would hurt him.

"Is it possible that I've become so selfish?" Jean continued to ask herself. Then suddenly, the thought occurred to her that perhaps she was not completely to blame.

"After all, it takes two to tango," she said to herself. While all this time, she might have been taking advantage of Scott, he didn't always have to be so accommodating. It isn't her fault that he never showed enough resolve to stand up to her (until now). Maybe he was way too flexible trying to be a nice guy and always trying to do the right thing. It was his attempt to play the 'perfect boyfriend' that caused their relationship to fall into this pattern.

.

"What kind of relationship is that?" Jean thought. "A good relationship can't be one-sided. It can't be about one person. It's can't only be about what I want! That's just selfish! And I don't want to be that kind of person. How can I say that care about someone when I take advantage of them whenever it suits me. How can I…"

Jean's thoughts of self-reflection were interrupted by a subtle, yet sudden, psychic tinge. It came from Scott with whom she shared a unique psychic bond where even stray thoughts from either of them could be shared. He appeared unassuming, as he squatted in the dunk tank waiting for the booth to open. His facial expressions and body language revealed nothing overt about his thoughts, but the impression that Jean suddenly felt implied feelings of contentment, almost a self-satified smugness. The way Jean interpreted it, she believed that Scott believed that he had won some sort of moral victory over her by playing the martyr in their relationship..

"What?" Jean screeched within the span of her conscious mind. "You think that you're the 'innocent victim' and I'm just, what? The 'mean girlfriend'? How dare you, Scott Summers! How dare you! We're not done here, mister! I'm going to show you what's what!"

And with that, Jean marched purposefully towards the entrance of the dunk tank. She swung the cage door open with great force, banging it violently against the wiring of the cage, which caused the sound to reverberate throughout the booth. Scott was startled by the sudden noise and grew even more concerned when he saw the angry look that Jean was directing towards his person.

"Oh boy," he thought. "No good can come of this."

As Scott tried to figure out what could have made Jean this angry, he tried his best to perhaps de-escalate the situation. As well, there was nowhere for him for run.

"Uh, hey Jean," he said tentatively. "What's up?"

"Get out!" she replied with a vehement growl.

Scott, along with everyone else within earshot, was taken aback by the abrasiveness underlying Jean's voice.

"Uhh," he stammered aimlessly, wondering what he could have possibly done to provoke Jean enough to be this angry. What felt that what he said was justified but perhaps Jean did not. He felt it was better to feign ignorance, which wouldn't be too far from the truth.

"What?"

"How dare you," Jean uttered accusingly at Scott. "How dare you think that you can get away with playing the "innocent victim" in this relationship and make me out to be the "bad guy"!"

"Well, uh, umm," Scott replied incomprehensively, in an attempt to find the right statement to defend himself, only to question the wisdom of what he was about to say soon after. "Well, I'm the one in the dunk tank, Jean."

Suddenly, Jean began to approach him menacingly. Scott figured he might as well be completely honest with his final words before Jean would turn him from a figurative 'drowned rat' to a literal one.

"But I agreed to do it because I care about you!" he argued desperately. "Why else would I continue to put myself through all of this? Just to make you look bad? You think I'm willing to humiliate myself to gain some sort of emotional revenge against you? Jean, if you really believe that, you are certifiable!"

Jean, unhindered by Scott's words, continued to move towards him methodically.

"Uh, okay maybe I was coming off a little too strong, maybe?" Scott added, wondering how many seconds were left in his young existence.

"Now let me tell you something Mr. Scott Summers," Jean announced with fervour. "I don't need you to play the martyr on my account. If you want out so bad, then get out of there because I'm coming in!"

Jean then lunged forward in attempt to enter the cage. Scott attempted to keep her from entering by reaching out awkwardly and holding the door shut.

"Look, Jean," Scott said, struggling to keep her from entering. "You don't have to do this!" Scott had forgotten how freakishly strong Jean was whenever she was upset.

"It's not up to you!" she grunted, as she started to overpower him and open the door.

With sheer grit and determination, Jean managed to scoot herself right next to Scott as they both of shared the same seat perched above the dunk tank.

"Jean, will you please knock it off!" Scott yelled as he tried to coax Jean physically to get out of the tank.

"I will not 'knock it off!' Scott," she replied defiantly. "I will not be accused of being an domineering girlfriend that wants to control you're every action and thought!"

"What do think you're doing now?" he countered exasperatingly.

"Well," Jean replied, struggling to find the right words after considering the irony of what she was doing.. "This is for your own good. You don't always have to give in me and I have no right to make you do them! I want you to do things because you want to, except for now! Now, I'm making you do this because you don't understand how important this is for us!"

"How is this any different from what you always do?" Scott replied, befuddled by the realization that he was actually having an argument about this. "You knew this was something that I didn't want to do but I agreed to do it to make you happy! Now that you've changed your mind, you're trying to make me not do it! You're still trying to get your own way! I've made this decision to do this because I wanted to help you! But you're still not considering what I have to say about it. Why? Because you blame me for making you feel guilty? The only reason that I make compromises in our relationship is to make things in our relationship run smoothly. Don't you see that?"

"How can we possibly have a good relationship when any of my actions are making you completely miserable?" Jean replied, inadvertently hitting the crux of the problem. "How can you constantly compromise your real feelings for my sake and believe we can have a 'smooth' relationship? Expecting you to do what I want isn't good, but giving in all the time to please me doesn't work either. There's nothing 'smooth' about that!"

"Huh," Scott simply answered, not knowing what to make of Jean's insight into the problem.

"Huh," Jean echoed, marveling at her own recent statements.

While both young mutants continued to have a discourse about the dynamics of their relationship while sitting in a dunk tank, both were oblivious to the fact that their argument was attracting an audience that was listening to every detail as it was revealed in their words.. However, there was one on-looker that wasn't the least bit interested about the details of their relationship because she was more interested in something else. Rahne saw Jean's predicament as an opportunity to once again stick it to her and knock her off what Rahne described as her 'high horse.' Rahne had managed to pilfer a few of the softballs that were resting on the counter of the booth, since everyone else seemed practically enthralled by the verbal spectacle in the dunk tank. Rahne's plan was simple: she was going to dunk Jean by hitting the target with the softball. And because she was completely off-guard, she would fall into the dunk tank and be completely soaked, humiliating her in front of a large audience. Rahne relished that thought that this would indeed be the inevitable result of her plan. Just as she was about to put it into action with her first pitch, Rahne was momentarily distracted by a voice behind her.

"Hey, Rahne, what're doin?"

Rahne turned around to see Sam looking at her with those innocent eyes of his that made her weak in the knees. Rahne found herself smiling at him with a foolish grin. As she was about to speak, she realized that she had lost focus. But she scolded herself for being distracted and turned back to put her plan into action.

"Not now, Sam!" she commanded, not wanting him to stop her from what she was about to do.

"What's the problem?" he replied. "I mean, who're you throwin' that softball to?"

"Ay'm not throwing it to anyone!" Rahne replied, annoyed at this momentary distraction. She then decided to let Sam in on her plan since he wouldn't go away otherwise.

"Alright," she sighed. "If ye must know, Ay'm aboot to give Jeannie here, the business. An' ay dunno want ye distracting me or give me any guff about doing it her. She's had it comin' for a long time now."

Sam thought about Rahne's and replied simply: "I don't get it."

"Uhhhg!" Rahne groaned in frustration at Sam's questioning. "Don't ye get it? Ay'm sick and tired of 'Miss High and Mighty' wassailing around like she's the queen of the X-men and all you boys drooling like little puppies whenever she's around. Well get ready to see yer queen get a free swimming lesson!"

"Uh, not that," Sam replied. "I mean, what if you miss?"

Rahne stopped in mid-pitch to ponder that fact for a split second. She then gave him what seemed only briefly to be a good answer.

"Ah have two more balls just in case!" she answered.

"But what if you miss with them, too?"

Rahne was getting frustrated with Sam poking the obvious logic hole in her plan.

"Why're tryin' to ruin this fer me? Are ye tryin' to save yer precious Jean?"

"No," Sam replied, quite innocently. "Ah was only pointin' out how hard it is to hit a target so small from this distance, even with three balls. But now that you mention it, I also don't get what you got against Jean."

"Somehow ay am not surprised," Rahne said sarcastically.

"What ah mean is, y'know, you're just as pretty as she is, an' you're plenty smart too. An' when yer not busy bein' angry and shouting, yer an awful nice person."

Rahne was taken aback by Sam's words, believing to be the most wonderful things anyone ever said to her. She could feel her heart rise in her chest and all the negative resentments seemed to filter away. All the anger and hardness seemed to fade away. She seemed just in awe of him, staring with her eyes wide.

Sam mistook her silence as a bad sign and he began to back away from Rahne, only to have her match his every step.

"Ah mean, that's what ah think is all," he added, unsure what to think of Rahne's current demeanor. "Ah mean, if you want, go ahead an' humiliate Jean if you want. Ah just don't think she deserves it is all. An' ah don't thing you need to it. You don't play second fiddle to anyone. You don't have to compare yerself to Jean. Ah mean, she's beautiful an' all, but so are you. Heck, you're one of the prettiest girls ah've ever seen."

Rahne moved in closer into Sam's personal space, backing him into the plywood wall of one of the carnival booths. She seemed to study his face trying to search for any subtle hint of sarcasm.

:"Did ye mean all that?" she asked, eyeing Sam intently. "Ye wouldn't be puttin' me on or anything like that."

"No way Rahne!" Sam protested. "I swear!"

Rahne then leaped at Sam knocking him to ground. She pinned him down and grabbed him by the jean vest and looked at him face to face.

"Ye swear?" she asked forcefully.

"Yes!" Sam gasped, deathly fearing for his life.

"So ye think ah'm beautiful?"

"Yes!"

"An' smart?"

"Yes!"

"An' nice?"

"Well, maybe not now, but most of the time 'yes'! Please don't kill me!"

Rahne's aggressive demeanor softened as she released her grip on Sam.

"Very well then," she replied thoughtfully. Sam breathed as sigh of relief as Rahne seemed to ease up.

Then once again Rahne pulled Sam up his jacket once again, but his time she kissed him passionately on the lips. Sam was wide-eyed in paralytic shock as this was the last thing he expected.

After a span of a few seconds, Rahne pulled her lips away and looked into Sam's eyes with a grin of satisfaction on her face. It was then that she suddenly realized that she had just knocked Sam off his feet and kissed him in public. She was feeling embarrassed by her actions as she got back to her feet and began to blush profusely, looking away in an attempt to avoid Sam's gaze. Sam was still trying to get his bearings and took a while for him to get to his feet. He felt a strange combination of both elation and utter confusion. Rahne folded her arms in discomfort and turned her back to Sam, while he looked on in bewilderment.

"Ay apologize Sam" Rahne said meekly. "Ay dunna know what happened."

"Don't be!" Sam replied, enthusiastically.

Rahne turned around in disbelief, although still blushing red, she was a little perturbed by Sam's apparent flippancy.

"What did ye say?"

"Ah mean, Rahne, ah didn't expect that an' all! Ah mean, ah never had a beautiful girl kiss me like that, ever! Ah mean, why'd you kiss me?"

Rahne stared at him with disbelief.

"Could be any more obvious, Sam?" she replied.

Sam actually took time to think about it, not realizing that Rahne's question was rhetorical.

"Sam," she said with frustratingly. "Ay like ye, okay! Ah mean, really like ye! Ah think yer sweet, an' kind an' handsome and ay kissed ye because ay couldn't help meself!"

"Oh wow!" Sam exclaimed breathlessly. "Ah never thought a girl like ye would be into someone like me."

"Yer kidding me, right?" Rahne replied in disbelief.

"Uh, no?"

Rahne face grew angry at the revelation that Sam was completely oblivious to her interest in him.

"Are ye sayin' with all the time we spent together ye never suspected that ay might fancy ye."

Sam simply shrugged his shoulders.

"There's no way ye could possibly that dense!"

"Hey wait a minute!" Sam responded. "Ah just didn't picture us together!"

"Cause ye were picturin' yerself with Jean ah bet!"

"Are you kidding? She's with Scott! Ah could never compete with him! Ah mean what girl would want someone like me when they're guys like him around."

Rahne then saw how she was displacing her own fears upon Sam when he had similar doubts about himself. He was really humble and sincere and she found herself more enamored with him than ever before. She grabbed Sam by the hand and looked into his eyes.

"Well, fer yer information, Mr. Sam Guthrie, this lass is very interested in a boy just like you an' if yer interested, she would like to spend the rest of the afternoon with ye."

Sam's face lit up with enthusiasm.

"Yes ma'am! Anythin' you want you want to do, we'll do it."

"That's sweet of ye, but ah can think of only one thing aye would like to do with ye." Rahne batted her eyes mischievously at Sam, who unbeknownst to her, had no idea what she meant.

"Cool, "he replied. "What's that?"

Rahne stared at him stupefied.

"What?" he replied.

Rahne sighed and dragged Sam by the hand in search of a more secluded spot.

"C'mon then," she said simply.

"Hey! Where we goin'?"

"It's a surprise!" Rahne replied sheepishly, reflecting that Sam could be too innocent at times. Just then Rahne remembered that she had a softball in her pocket. She barely got it to fit and she only now realized how uncomfortable it was. She pulled it out and gave it Sam.

"Sam," she said. "Be a dear and get rid of this will ye?" She gave him a sweet smile. Sam finally caught on at what Rahne was alluding to. He took the softball and without looking tossed the ball aimlessly over his shoulder.

Unfortunately, Sam had lobbed the ball so high that it traveled quite a distance and bounced oddly against one of the stands and seemed to bounce even farther, far enough to reach the dunking booth and somehow, travel in line, right for the target.

"Whack!"

"Ker-Splash!"

Sam and Rahne turned around to see what the rest of the crowd had witnessed in its entirety. Against unfathomable odds Sam had inadvertently hit the targeting mechanism of the dunk tank and managed to dunk both Scott and Jean while they were in the midst of resolving their argument. The colour had left Sam's face as he stared at the tank in horror. Scott and Jean had yet to surface but he believed that Jean already knew who was responsible. Scott was the first to surface popping up, unsure of what exactly happened. Jean appeared to rise soon after, but rose out of the water more slowly and methodically. Her red hair was completely drench and covered almost of her entire face. The hair was parted in the middle revealing a mouth with a serious frown. Although her eyes were covered, Sam could still feel Jean looking in his direction and he began to mumble to himself: "Ah'm a dead man! Ah'm a dead man! Ah'm a dead man!"

"Come now, Sam," Rahne said reassuringly. "Maybe Jean dunna know it was you."

Just then, Jean methodically took her right hand and with one purposeful swoop, flipped her hair back, revealing a pair of angry green eyes staring intently at Sam who was reciting the last rites for himself before Jean got her hands on him. Rahne was taken aback as she saw the fierceness in Jean's eyes.

"On second thought, dear," she said after a brief reflection. "It was nice knowin ' ya."

Although there was the initial gasp of surprise from the crowd, it slowly reverted into the sound of uproarious laughter. Feeling furious at this accidental public humiliation, Jean was ready to take it out Sam when she was momentarily distracted by a distinct laugh that stood out. To her complete surprise, it was Scott, who was laughing heartily. Then Jean realized the he was laughing at her, which made her even angrier.

"And just who do you think you are laughing at?" she asked through angrily clenched teeth.

Scott momentarily attempted to calm down enough to answer. He held his side while pointing his index finger in Jean's direction.

"You," he replied, laughingly.

Jean found herself white with rage, feeling indignant about being humiliated in public while her boyfriend laughed about it. Just as she was about to render Scott into extinction, she briefly paused and looked at the situation: both her and Scott, drenched head to toe, bobbing up and down in a freezing cold dunk tank with a whole punch of people laughing at their predicament. To her amazement, she found herself cracking up as well, and her laughter seemed to assuage her negative feelings.

"Well you're one to talk," she countered teasingly to Scott.

Scott surveyed his own drenched self and nodded in agreement.

"I guess I am," he answered with a broad grin on his face.

Jean's demeanor softened to a more somber expression.

"I'm so sorry."

"Me too," Scott replied with an equal intensity, holding Jean's hand and squeezing it with a comfortable sincerity. Within the span of a heartbeat they stared at each other contentedly, briefly ignoring the cat-calls and jeers coming from the patrons of the carnival. They then returned to their present state and pondered upon it.

"Well," Jean said, looking briefly towards the captivated crowd. "What do you want to do now?"

"I have a thought," Scott replied mischievously and then impulsively took Jean in his arms and kissed her. Jean, while a little surprised at this, readily accepted it.

Suddenly the crowd broke out into a round of applause with only a few nay-sayers telling them to "get a room." Still, the mood was altogether approving and pleasant. Sam applauded the loudest, for his own sake, since he was sure he was off the hook for sure. Jean spotted him applauding and waved to Sam as if to signal that there were no hard feelings. Sam felt as if a huge weight had been lifted on his shoulders and the grateful expression on his face made Jean smile. Sam was even more elated, believing that all was forgiven. However, his elation was interrupted by an ominous feeling that was nearby. Sam looked to find Rahne giving him a rather contemptuous look.

"I'm happy for them Rahne," he explained, trying to diffuse the situation. "Honest."

Rahne looked into the innocent blue eyes of Sam and her demeanor softened. It made her want to get past all her petty jealousies and focus on what was in front of her. She stared dreamily at Sam with a smile forming effortlessly. Sam, however, who lacked the wherewithal to pick up on the feelings of the fairer sex, was perplexed by Rahne's staring.

"Uh, what is it?" he asked. "Do I have somethin' in my eye or somethin'?" He then proceeded to check his eyelashes for any lint or loose hair.

"Yeah, something indeed," Rahne replied wittily.

"Well, help me get it out!" shouted Sam, who was concerned that it was something serious.

Rahne just rolled her eyes.

"Never mind."

And with that she grabbed Sam by the arm and dragged him along while searching for a more secluded spot to be alone together. Jean was looking on as they both exited from view and had a thoughtful look upon her face. Scott looked at her curiously as he exited the cage. "What is it Jean," he asked thoughtfully.

"Oh nothing," she replied dismissively. "I just had a thought about the carnival next year."

"Oh yeah?" Scott said tentatively, since they hadn't quite finished with this year. He was hoping to forget much of it.

"Yeah, just an idea." 

"What?"

"I think rather than have one person go through this; I think it would be better if we have two people go through it. It seems that going through public humiliation is less painful when you have someone to share it with."

"I hear that," Scott replied playfully. "So I guess you and me are going to take on the burden together eh?"

"No," Jean answered. "I have two other X-men that would be perfect for next year." Jean then smiled a sinister smile as she looked into the direction of Sam and Rahne who were just out of sight. Jean waved to them one more time. Sam waved enthusiastically while Rahne did so tentatively. While she had no cause for concern, Rahne felt an uneasy sense of dread that she could not explain now, but she would find out very soon. She looked at Sam who was naively in good spirits.

"See Rahne, everything's going to be all right!"

THE END


	6. Epilogue

Watcher's Epilogue

If you're still reading this…all I can say is "Wow!" You're either a masochist or really have no life to speak of. At least I have an excuse (I'm "The Watcher" after all). I even warned you, so if you're disappointed, too bad! I have to watch these things play out with alternate endings. Believe me, you don't want to go there!

Anyway, Infinity still isn't ready yet. Mind you, it's not like we're going anywhere special. It's more like "everywhere" special. It's an omnipotent thing, you wouldn't really understand. You tend to get jaded about it real fast, especially when her brother is Eternity. Try to get some alone time, let me tell you. Well, I guess that's that. And unless you still haven't learned your lesson, I'll see you next time (unless I find something better to do).


End file.
